On Thursday, the HISD Board of Education will vote on a plan to adjust attendance boundaries at 10 elementary schools for the 2016-2017 school year to address classroom overcrowding.
The proposal affects these elementary campuses: Bastian, Hartsfield, Highland Heights, Kelso, Smith, Stevens, Wainwright, Young, Frost, and Law.
Community meetings regarding the proposals took place in October.
Complete details, including maps and frequently asked questions, can be found here.
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Community meeting attendees for the new Mark White Elementary School on Thursday heard an important update on the construction phase of the project and received a formal introduction to the newly hired principal for the relief campus.
Lisa Hernandez, former assistant principal at The School at St. George Place, will lead the campus when the school opens in August 2016.
“We’re going to be looking at building a strong community for the school and really setting the mission for the school,” Hernandez said. “Our job as educators is to prepare students for the 21st century, and that is something I’m really looking forward to building at Mark White.”
Parents who have not yet decided where to send their children for the 2016–2017 school year still have plenty of time to make up their minds, and HISD is helping them narrow the field with a series of four School Choice Open Houses scheduled through mid-December.
The first Open House took place on Oct. 3, but if you missed it, don’t worry. The next one is this Saturday, Oct. 24, at Sharpstown High School (7404 Bissonnet, 77074), and there will be two more before the deadline for guaranteed first-round consideration of magnet applications on Dec. 18. Continue reading
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday declined to consider a proposed policy revision that would ban suspensions and expulsions for students in second grade and below.
Trustees had been set to review the proposal during the October board meeting. The agenda item was withdrawn by trustees on Thursday afternoon. Board members have asked district administrators to provide additional information about the educator support systems that are tied to the proposal.
Students at Woodson K–8 are exercising their bodies as well as their brains thanks to a brand-new, state-of-the-art fitness center awarded to them by the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC) and funded in part by Coca-Cola and Nike. The Live Positively fitness center was awarded to approximately three schools in each state for showing innovation in their fitness and nutrition programs.
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“I was a fat kid with a stutter growing up, and my dad bought me a set of weights.” said Jake ‘Body By Jake’ Steinfeld, chairman and spokesperson for the program. “Not only did weights build my body, but they built my confidence and self-esteem.”
Studies have shown that physical activity improves academic achievement and reduces discipline problems and absenteeism. The NFGFC hopes to build a nation of the fittest, healthiest kids in the world. Continue reading
Volunteers are needed at HISD schools on Monday, Oct. 19, to help set a Guinness World Record for the largest number of children being read to in a 24-hour period. During the event, called Read Across the Globe, 92 HISD elementary campuses will join schools in other cities and countries across the world in a mass reading of “Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table,” by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. The goal is to read to 300,000 children simultaneously, smashing the current record of 238,000.
Parents, community members, and HISD staff can participate in Read Across the Globe by volunteering to be a classroom reader, timekeeper, or witness. Volunteers need to be over 18 years old and should plan on being at an HISD elementary campuses from 8 to 11 a.m. or noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, October 19. To sign up and to pick a campus, go to www.Connect4Literacy.org/readacrosstheglobe. Continue reading
HISD hosted the first of four School Choice Open Houses on Oct. 3, 2015, and hundreds of families came out to Jordan High School on Saturday to explore their options.
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“My main interest is the gifted and talented (G/T) program,” said parent Linda Le, who has two daughters. “These sessions are helpful, because you can look at all the different schools and talk to someone right away to get as much information as you need.”
“As a teacher myself, I’m able to see the different schools and what they offer, ask questions, and then decide what’s best and look at locations,” added Dominique Broomfield, a teacher at Eliot Elementary School with three children. Continue reading
Students at HISD’s Atherton Elementary School students will soon have more reasons to toot their own horns, after the Gospel Music Heritage Month Foundation (GMHMF) awarded that campus a $750 scholarship to support its fine arts programs.
Dr. Albert Lemons, who serves as Atherton’s principal, accepted the award on behalf of his school on Sept. 14, during the GMHMF’s annual show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
“I’m very seldom speechless,” said Dr. Lemons. “But this came as a complete surprise. Every year, I work backstage at this event, helping the artists, making sure they have refreshments, and getting other people who don’t belong back there out. This year, nobody was saying anything, but they treated me like a guest and seated me in the front row. I thought, ‘Well, I guess they just want me to rest. And for the first time, I’ll get to see the show.’ But near the end of the last number, they sent someone out to say they needed me, and that’s when Sheila Jackson Lee told me my school was being honored.” Continue reading
“Growing” Global Graduates just got easier at HISD’s Kolter Elementary School, thanks to a new garden built in honor of a legendary Chinese philosopher.
The Confucius Garden — which has eight beds for cultivating traditional Chinese herbs such as mustard, cilantro, and parsley, as well as two different varieties of bok choi — was unveiled during a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 29. The garden was built with funds from Hanban and the Asia Society, which provides a grant to Kolter each year as a member of its Confucius Classrooms Network.
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“We are so appreciative of the Asia Society and everything it has done for us,” said Principal Steve Shetzer. “We look forward to watching this garden grow along with our students.” Continue reading
A recently retired teacher from The Rice School has been selected as the 2015 Texas Association for Bilingual Education Secondary Teacher of the Year.
Tanya Thompson, who retired in May after more than three decades with HISD, was selected because of her teaching philosophy, which uses personalized learning to cater to the learning style of each student. Continue reading